The business leader frequently described as
the Bill Gates of Asia because of the similarities in the story of how he
founded a software firm in Bangalore in 1981, Mr. Narayana Murthy will receive
an honorary degree from the OU School of Business Administration during its
December 13 commencement ceremony.

Murthy is founder of Infosys Technologies
Limited, a global information technology consulting and software services
provider, headquartered in Bangalore,
India. His
entrepreneurial spirit and determination has resulted in tremendous cost
savings for companies across Europe and the United States first by creating,
then by setting the standard for, the global outsourcing business process. His
business endeavors are also credited with helping lift his native country out
of poverty. Murthy served as Infosys CEO for 21 years before retiring in 2002.
He then served as the executive chairman of the board and chief mentor until
2006.

As an admired global leader, highly respected
business leader and as an Asian hero
who has brought about revolutionary changes in Asia,
Murthy has a long and varied list of accomplishments.

Named one of TimeASIA’s
60 Asian Heroes in 2006, the publication credits Murthy and his partners with
transforming the way the entire world does business. It also tells the start-up
story of Infosys and its similarity to Microsoft: Murthy and six friends met in
his bedsit in a Bombay
slum, each contributed $250 to start a software firm, Infosys, in 1981. Ten
years later, the company generated annual revenues of $150 million in 1991, and
$36 billion in 2006. In March 1999, it became the first India-registered
company to be listed on an American stock exchange.

Some of the various
honors Mr. Murthy received include: The Economist ranked him 8th in the list of
the fifteen most-admired global leaders in 2005, ranked 28th among the world's most-respected business leaders by the
Financial Times in 2005, and identified by the TIME magazine in 2004 as one of
the ten global leaders who are helping shape the future of technology. He
was voted the “World Entrepreneur of
the Year” by Ernst and Young in 2003, and the most powerful CEO for three consecutive years in 2004,05
and 06 by Economic Times. He was chosen as the “Business Process Innovator” by The Economist in 2007, an Ernst Weber
Engineering Leadership medal from The Institute of Electrical and Electronics
Engineers in 2007, was awarded “Padma Vibhushan” (the
second highest civilian award by the Government of India in 2008), and the
Officer of the Legion of Honor in 2008 by the Government of France.

‘The SBA is also planning to have Mr. Murthy meet
informally several groups on December 12th prior to his receiving
the doctorate. . Details are still being confirmed. For more information about
this event, please contact Lisa Desmet (desmet@oakland.edu),
Mohan Tanniru (Tanniru@oakland.edu).